Why Callest Though me Good? Jesus Asked The Rich Young Ruler
Jesus asked the rich young ruler this question “Why callest thou me good?…Then Jesus explained: …none is good, save one, that is, God.” (Luke 18:19). The reason that Christ asked this rhetorical question is because He knew that this young man with many possessions did not understand that The Lord Jesus Christ is God. Even though the rich young ruler was going through some desperation, got on his knees, and called Jesus a good master, it was just not completely clear to him that Jesus is God. The man did, however, realize that The Lord Jesus Christ would be able to answer a question he had and the man was desperate for the answer.
Jesus knew that money and possessions were what the man really served, and not God. In a sense the young ruler (virtually) did not have money because money is what actually had him. A real problem was that the rich young ruler was still serving mammon. The Bible is clear on what happens when an individual serves two masters: You will only love one and wind up hating the other. Although the rich young ruler believed that he was serving God by keeping the law, he was not even keeping the law. He was not serving God at all. He was serving money, not Christ. The young man loved money and therefore was a slave to his possessions. The rich young ruler could not comprehend that ALL of the silver and ALL of the gold is God’s. Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above from the Father of lights. Jesus and His Father are one as Christ made this clear in The Book of John chapter Ten.
This man had a vast amount of respect for Christ to kneel before him in public, and he really did seem to believe that Christ would have the answer to his question. When the young man asked Jesus this notorious question, the young man certainly did not like the answer. His question: What shall he do to inherit eternal life? Jesus told the young man what he needed to do “…He said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.” Luke 18: 22). When the young man heard Jesus’ answer to his question he was very sorrowful. The reason for the young ruler’s sorrow was that he knew right there and then that he would have to give up being the rich young ruler in order to have God. He had to come to terms with the reality that he was not keeping the law either as no one could except Christ. Jesus called the rich ruler on his sin: The love of money. It’s not clear on what became of this young ruler afterwards. We don’t know for sure if the rich young ruler ever had a change of heart, and came back to Christ. For the rich young ruler to have God, to have eternal life, the young man needed Christ because Jesus is God.
Jack Baris http://www.somegoodstuff.net Things that are good and not evil. Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above from Christ.
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